Human capital is possibly the most vital yet overlooked means of establishing competitive advantage for companies today. For generations, the field of human resources has been a discipline of faith embedded in a business/economic system dependent on hard evidence. Advances in research, technology, and techniques for measuring intangibles — along with a timely convergence of academic disciplines — may have produced a solution that allows human resources practitioners to stay true to their faith, yet gives them the means of producing business cases that appeal to the senses. Evidence-based human resources (EBHR) applies scientific standards of causality to demonstrate how intangible human capital can be observed and shown to add tangible business results.

This report provides in-depth case studies from four organizations that employ evidence-based approaches to their human capital management. The first two studies offer illustrations of highly integrated efforts focused on tracing and evaluating linkages between human resources practices and organizational outcomes. The other two studies demonstrate how organizations can implement an evidence-based approach even if the method is not spread throughout all aspects of the organization.